Museum of weapons in Moscow: history, exhibitions, excursions

The Museum of Weapons in Moscow (officially called the Central Museum of the Armed Forces) is highly technological and attracts many people. It will be interesting not only for narrow-profile specialists studying small arms, but also for ordinary citizens who are interested in the history of their country.

Where is the museum located?

The Central Museum of the Armed Forces is a military historical museum located in the Russian capital. You can find it at the address: Soviet Army Street, building No. 2.

In fact, the Small Arms Museum in Moscow is the largest of these institutions around the world. It reports to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and displays the whole history of the development of the Armed Forces of the country, from the moment of their formation to our time. The branch of this museum is the memorial room of Zhukov, which is located in the building of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces.

Back in 1919 the first museum of weapons in Moscow was founded. Today it is located in a chic large building, which was designed by architect Boris Barhin. At its new location, a historical museum dedicated to the Armed Forces of Russia was opened on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Great Victory on May 8, 1965.

Briefly about the museum

Combat banners and awards, various documents, old photographs, personal belongings of ordinary soldiers and, of course, small arms of different eras - all this can be seen by visiting the capital's museum of weapons. You can see a photo of one of his expositions below.

The general fund of the institution has more than 800 thousand exhibits. The Museum of Weapons in Moscow constantly conducts various thematic exhibitions. Moreover, not only in itself, but also in other cities and regions of the country. In the museum itself, there are always exhibitions, allocated according to the chronological principle:

• "Civil War".
• "The Armed Forces of Russia in the period 1921-1941."
• "The Great Patriotic War".
• "Armed Forces in the post-war period."

In addition, in 2008 a new exhibition entitled "The Caucasus: Five Days in August" was opened, dedicated to the conflict in South Ossetia.

History of the museum

The idea to create a museum of weapons in Moscow appeared in 1919, when the battles of the Civil War continued . Nevertheless, this year the first exhibitions were organized. In 1922, the museum received its permanent residence permit - it was an old mansion on Kropotkin Street (now there is a museum of Alexander Pushkin). However, in 1924 he was transferred to one of the buildings of the Military Academy, since the mansion simply did not have enough space for organizing expositions.

The staff of the museum worked actively during the Second World War. In total, they made at least twenty expeditions to the front, during which a huge number of priceless relics and documentary monuments were collected.

May 8, 1965 - an important date for the institution. On this day, the Armed Forces Museum received its new building on the street of the Soviet Army, where it is located today.

Museum of weapons in Moscow: excursions

The Central Museum of the Armed Forces is always waiting for its visitors. His employees will happily spend for you a professional and interesting excursion. Visitors will learn everything about the history and types of small arms.

The museum conducts both general sightseeing tours and thematic ones. The cost of one such excursion for a group of 20 people is 2500 rubles (for schoolchildren and students) and 3000 rubles (for adults).

Of course, you can visit the museum without a guide. The cost of admission is 150 rubles (for students, schoolchildren and pensioners - half as much). In addition, some of the days in the year the entrance to the museum is absolutely free (May 9, April 18, May 18 and February 23).

After reading the history of Russian small arms, you can visit a specific restaurant of the front kitchen, located here. In it you can not only taste delicious food, but also feel the atmosphere of military life. Well, the kids will really like it on the territory near the museum, where a grandiose exhibition of military equipment under the open sky is organized. 157 units of military vehicles are assembled here. Among them - tanks of various modifications, military helicopters, modern missiles, air defense weapons and so on.

In the museum of weapons there are souvenir stalls in which you can buy yourself a small copy of some military machine, military literature and other interesting things to remember.

Banner of Victory

Perhaps the main relic stored in this museum is the very Banner of Victory, which was planted by Soviet soldiers on the roof of the captured Reichstag. Today it is an unofficial symbol of victory in the Second World War, and is a red cloth measuring 188 by 82 centimeters, which depicts the main symbols of the Soviet Union - a hammer and sickle, as well as a five-pointed star.

The banner on the roof of the German Reichstag was planted by three Soviet soldiers - Russian Mikhail Egorov, Ukrainian Alexei Berest and Georgian Meliton Kantaria. This event occurred on May 1, 1945 at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Finally

The Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow is the place where a huge collection of small arms is collected. It will be interesting for adults and children. In the courtyard of the museum various military equipment is exposed - from tanks and howitzers, which were used during the Great Patriotic War, to the latest models of Russian military equipment.